Monthly Archives: July 2015

I’m excited to introduce to you “Lolly the clown.” Can you guess who it is?

Some of us spent Tuesday evening at the Leavenworth County Fair helping a church. “Lolly” handed out free coupons and lollipops. I shadowed her, and universally kids loved her! I was surprised how many people wanted pictures with her too. 😉

We twisted balloons for free thanks to “Lolly’s” coupons. We had a great night.

Love,
Sarah

“A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth:and a word spoken in due season, how good is it!”Proverbs 15:23

Many years ago the Lord impressed on my heart the importance of quality time with my parents. Even though we were next-door neighbors, life was busy enough that it was easy for several weeks to go by without having quality, individual talking time. As I asked the Lord for the solution, He encouraged me to simply make a plan and then use it. So we began going out to eat together once a week on a designated day.

A couple of years into that, my dad was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. Those lunches out became even more valuable to my heart. Before long, he needed a walker to get around so we took that walker with us to help him get into the restaurant and back to the car.

Then my dad’s health deteriorated to where he needed a wheel chair. Just a few months before that, Steve and I had begun doing some weight lifting for exercise. Little did I know that was going to prepare me to be able to lift a wheel chair into and out of the trunk of a car so I could still take my dad and mom out for our weekly lunch date. That was one of the two times a week he would get out.

Now that he is gone, my mom and I still have our weekly lunches out. Then we stop at the grocery store together on the way home. I am very grateful that Lord encouraged me to invest in relationships that were and are important and special to me.

That’s a quote from our pastor when we lived in Florida. It’s true. Few good things happen unless we plan for and work toward achieving them.

For example, Grandpa and Grandma’s night wouldn’t happen too often if we only did it when it was convenient or when we thought of it. My parents have it scheduled for once a month on a Thursday. There have been months that it didn’t happen due to trips or illness, but the beauty of having a specific time, is it will happen more often than if it hadn’t been scheduled.

Dad and Mom try to have a special activity they do, so after dinner last Thursday, out came the puzzles. Mom has collected an amazing assortment of puzzles when the younger five were growing up, so it makes for a perfect grandparent puzzle stash. The girls each had puzzles suited for their ability, and it was a sweet time.

So, what can you think of that you desire to do but don’t have a specific time for? Schedule it, and make it happen.

Love,
Sarah

Ohhh, Drew is treasure hunting! Cupboards at Grandpa and Grandma’s are very exciting!

The girls picked blueberries the other day, so they were sorting and washing them while the grandchildren activity was going on.It’s cute to see at Bible time the little ones pick who they’re going to sit with.

“Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous:and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.”Psalm 32:11

“Time management is really life management, personal management. It is really taking control of the sequence of events. Time management is having control over what you do next.” (Eat That Frog – 21 Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time)

That sounds like a schedule to me. Are you managing your life by controlling what you do next? Do you first have purpose in your day, and then do you have the schedule to make sure that purpose happens?

I sometimes think that because we are moms at home, we don’t feel like we need to maximize our time in the same way a business person might. However, don’t you think that our little sphere with our children is eternally more important than the biggest business ever? Shouldn’t we manage it in the light of that reality?

This fellowship was themed as game night, complete with dessert and Bible time. We weren’t sure how it would work, with such a wide variety of ages, but it was a wild success. The ladies were still talking about it at church on Sunday. Others who hadn’t come realized what they’d missed out on and wondered when the next one would be.

Some highlights:

Watching one lady flipping cards for the Spot-It game.

Hearing Tina cheer, “Yay! Good job!” when someone made a match.

Seeing ages 7 to 91 involved in a game of UNO.

Teaching octogenarians to play Apples to Apples (disclaimer: some cards we skip).

Love,
Sarah

Jesse had some Rummikub helpers.

Connect Four in action. Uncles and aunts are so much fun to play with!

Andrew is such a cool little guy. You’ll find him either sucking his thumb or on the move.

The lady in the middle was a great card flipper. It was really sweet, because she could even understand Tina.

The treats were a hit.

Choosing the best fit for my card.

See what I mean about the thumb?

We had Bible time, and it was so sweet watching the ladies listen to Abby take a turn and read verses. She reads the Bible with ease at only 7!

One of Tina’s award-winning grins.

“The glory of young men is their strength:and the beauty of old men is the gray head.”Proverbs 20:29

(At long last: the final part to one of our 14er climbs last August. If you want to refresh your memory, here’s Part 1 and Part 2.)

When Team B (Dad, Mom, and I) reached Mt. Columbia’s ridge, it was extremely windy. So windy you had to lean forward into the wind. It took us awhile to traverse the ridge.

The clouds were pretty as they blew quickly over the mountain tops.

A practical hint if you’re using your iPhone for pictures on a long hike. Invest in a small, external battery charger. Here’s the link to what I have, and the black is on sale (update: blue is no longer on sale) now for only $9.99 from Amazon! I love mine (okay: I do have the pink one)! Make sure to see if your phone is compatible with this charger. The Amazon link is an affiliate one. Read our disclosure/privacy policy here.

After climbing over multiple false summits, we finally reached the real summit. Ahhhh. There’s really quite an amazing feeling to summit another 14er.

We took pictures, and we were also in radio contact with Team A. Sadly, with the temperatures and wind, we knew we couldn’t stay long on the summit and wait for the rest, so we began our descent.

Meanwhile, Team A was quite exhausted, but they kept pushing. They had an intense traverse, and despite obstacles, they maintained their cheerfulness.

The last summit was in sight!

When they reached the top, they also took pictures and were surprised to find a mountain goat enjoying the scenery too.

Team A didn’t spend long on the summit, as they knew the descent on Columbia would be hard. We were grateful for our iPhone app RunKeeper, which we had been using since the beginning of the climb. Team B had found the route difficult to find going up, and there were certain routes you did not want to take going down (like catching the gully). RunKeeper was perfect as we consulted it to make sure we had the right path going down. We also radioed to Team A to try to help them get on the right path.

It was a rough descent. Tiredness, pain, exhaustion, and slippery slopes made it difficult. You ended up sort of sliding down different sections.

Finally, we all met up in the forest! Praise the Lord!

It had been a long, hard, incredible day, but we made it. Well, almost. We then experienced a thunderstorm in the forest, along with lots of rain. But I think that just added to the adventure. We put our phones in waterproof compartments, dug out rain coats, and sloshed through the forest.

They could still smile for a group picture. Good job, y’all!

Climbing mountains is a beautiful analogy of our journey as Christian.

It’s physically hard.

We face challenges in life.

Company helps.

Fellowship with other believers is a great encouragement.

The views are gorgeous.

God’s blessings abundantly fill our lives.

Carbs, protein, water, and even electrolyte chews or drinks are a must.

Reading God’s Word is essential.

When you reach the top, you realize the climb was worth it.

Heaven is our final destination, and words can’t describe what it will be like!

Love,
Sarah

“I press toward the mark for the prize of thehigh calling of God in Christ Jesus.”Philippians 3:14